FotoFocus Announces 74 Exhibitions and 65 Venues for the 2026 Biennial: The Long View

FotoFocus announced its list of featured exhibitions and venues for the 2026 Biennial: The Long View, taking place during the month of October with the Opening Program scheduled for September 30–October 3. The
largest of its kind in America, extending across museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces in Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky, the Biennial celebrates photography and lens-based art while uniting artists, curators, and educators from around the world. The Biennial returns with 74 exhibitions presented at 65 venues including the newly opened FotoFocus Center.

Ambitious and critically engaging exhibitions will be presented at museums, galleries, schools and universities, theaters, nonprofit cultural centers, parks, hotels, and libraries, among other venues, including major new artist commissions and site-specific installations, solo exhibitions, group exhibitions, public art projects, performances, and film screenings.

In addition to its returning venues, the 2026 Biennial includes 9 new venues: ArtsConnect, Cincinnati Art Club, Delhi Event Center, FotoFocus Center, Miami University: Hiestand Galleries, Here and Now, MOTR Pub, Oxford Community Arts Center, and Swell Art Cafe.

Other venues include: the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati Art Museum, Manifest Gallery, Kennedy Heights Arts Center, Northern Kentucky University School of the Arts Gallery and Visionaries and Voices.

All programming for the 2026 Biennial has been developed with, and overseen by, the FotoFocus creative team, comprising: Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth, Executive Director; Kevin Moore, Artistic Director and Curator; and Carissa Barnard, Director of Curatorial Strategy.

The theme of the biennial is ‘the long view,’ a phrase used to invoke a broader perspective, one defined by distance and duration. As an attitude toward history, it suggests a wise and measured perspective, one that takes into consideration both the distant past while also considering the distant future. ‘The long view’ also describes, in literal terms, two primary capacities of photography and photographic lenses: long-distance vision and long-duration viewing. Considering photography as a metaphor for the attempt to grasp one’s place within the durational sweep of history, The Long View acknowledges the semiquincentennial of the United States and encourages a posture of reflection in regards to the country’s history, its past, present, and future. While photography has the capacity to depict moments from the United States’ long and contested history, it also functions as a powerful tool for understanding that history and, in turn, informs how we shape the future.

The 2026 Biennial will be anchored by six featured exhibitions that embody the critically reflective theme of The Long View in different yet complementary ways. “The exhibitions featured in this year’s biennial consider ‘the long view’ through a unique range of perspectives,” said Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth, FotoFocus Executive Director. “Some exhibitions have historical roots while others embrace futurism, using the lens as a tool to speculate what is on the horizon, while still others remain rooted in the present, addressing ideology, politics, and culture in America and around the world.”

“Responses to The Long View have been exceptionally philosophical, speculative, and ambitious, demonstrating the theme’s resonance in the current socio-political moment,” said Kevin Moore, FotoFocus Artistic Director and Curator. “As we collectively take stock of our country’s direction in this semiquincentennial year, the exhibitions and programming featured in this edition of the Biennial remind us not only of photography’s role in shaping our understanding of history, they also propose ways for us to envision the future.”

For more information and a full list of venues and more information: fotofocus.org
Image: Lynn Whitney, Huron Boy, Huron, 2014. Gelatin Silver Print 20 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist.